Companion
by kattattack
Summary: Toby's penchant for trouble flares up and Oz isn't there for them to tag team against the perp and later Toby reflects. One Shot.


They had this... companionship. They had a system. Oz would get out the rig to grab them some greasy, artery-clogging, absolutely delicious street food and he could send Toby a mental text if the vendor was outofrelishwasmustardokay? Or, Toby could inform Oz that it was safe to go into the building on a 'street x, shots fired, no further details given' call because he could sense the gunman long gone and they could treat the wounded faster, rather than wait for police, without any awkward questions afterward. Or, if Toby was formulating some hare-brained plan to take down the bad guy and save the day - almost as if he were telepathic too - Oz would chime in with a thought, read Toby's microscopic replies like a book and ta-da day saved, hostage rescued, patient a-ok.

And Toby could really do with that now.

He was in one of those situations and rapidly coming up with a hare-brained scheme only Oz wasn't here to communicate with. Oz was at home sick. Which mean he had to rely on the intuitiveness of rookie Ryan Anderson which didn't seem to be going well.

So far, Toby had managed to convince his temporary partner that going into the building was the better option – even if it did mean the return of those awkward questions later (but hopefully, being the aforementioned rookie he was, Ryan would think little of it). But Anderson wasn't doing so well at the reading-Toby-like-a-book part of the plan.

There was one badly wounded victim and one knife-wielding madman in a cramped apartment but that was exactly it; the stabber was crazy, off his meds and going through some wild mood swings but diffusible. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone so he let the paramedics in to help but then he'd violently turned out of guilt and worry; Toby could hear it.

'_What have I done? I won't go to jail! Lisa... no...'_

Quick bursts from one emotion to another. They needed to get... _Lisa_ out soon and being trapped on the wrong side of a knife-wielding crazy man was making a fast scoop and run exceedingly difficult. If Oz were here they could eliminate the threat with one of their secretly formulated plans and blue their now-critical patient to hospital but Oz wasn't here, Toby reminded himself, and he'd have to somehow de-escalate the situation without his companion's help.

Whilst (actually competent for a rookie) Ryan focused on the now almost paler than paper patient strapped onto the board, Toby was trying more standard negotiation tricks to calm the man down.

"Okay, Mr. Riley," he began, blue eyes wide and unwavering.

"If you put the knife down, we can get Lisa here some help and no one else needs to get hurt." Riley considered for half a second before reaffirming his pointed grip at the EMTs.

"You fix her now! Here!" _'I've killed her. I must have. No!' _He shouted angrily. Toby put his palms out in a non-threatening gesture.

"We just want to help you, Mr. Riley, and the best way is for you to let us get to the hospital,"

'_She's going to die. And I'm going to prison. I don't want to go back. She can't die'_

"We know you didn't mean to hurt her," Toby realised that Riley being woefully upset with himself was better than knife-wielding-ly angry and defensive so her tried that route.

"...that you don't want anything to happen to her,"

'_No. I don't.'_

"So let us go and we can make that happen."

It took roughly two seconds for the situation to go from bad to worse.

Lisa stirred beneath the rookie's blood stemming fingers as Riley began to waver from his offensive position.

"What's happen-?" she mumbled.

Like a switch Barry Riley's grip on the knife hardened as he brought it up to defend against the paramedic imposing on his personal space.

"Get off her!" he screamed to the rookie and lunged forward.

Toby gasped as the blade slashed him before he was pushed out of the way. He stumbled backwards over the coffee table and landed hard on the floor.

"Lisa, baby, they're hurting you."

"Barry? No... I..." she passed out again.

"Baby? Baby? No! Wake up." He dropped the knife to cradle his hands around Lisa's face as he leant over the lowered gurney. Ryan took the opportunity to steal the knife away quietly and then decided to switch on the psychic powers Toby could have done with not twenty seconds ago.

As he picked himself up off the floor, footsteps drowned by Barry's howls, he gave a silent word to Ryan as he crept forward; they simultaneously pounced on the madman as he sobbed and he went down with little fight.

"This is University 2 1, ETA on that police unit?" Toby asked into his radio now he had the chance.

"University 2 1, police unit now available. ETA 4 minutes." Ryan took Lisa's pulse as Toby took over restraining Barry on the floor. His look was grave.

"We're going to need them much faster, dispatch." Toby could hear the woman, still alive but unconscious, and not doing well.

In the blink of an eye the situation had all but completely blown over. Remnants of their horrific call out still dawdled in the ER. Lisa had been whisked off, hopefully in the nick of time; a faction of their police escort were gathering statements and waiting for word on the victim and the two EMTs lingered in the ambulance bay.

The adrenaline from the call out had since worn off and filling out paperwork was not soothing any of Toby's aches and pains.

He looked up as Liv came through the doors behind which all the chaos now lay.

"Hey, do you know how Lisa is?"

"I think they almost lost her but, as cliché as this may come out, you probably got her here just in time. You saved her life, Toby, you and that rookie you got because Oz bailed out with a bit of man flu..." She rolled her eyes as she tried to lighten the mood.

"Ryan." Toby replied as he leaned back slightly, deep in thought.

As well as it had gone, Toby realised it could have gone better had he had his real partner there to back him up. It wasn't a question of heroics and whether he should have waited or not – she probably would have bled out in that tiny apartment had they not acted the way they did – and he couldn't stop being the cloud of bad luck that he seemed to be; situations like this came with the job and he couldn't give it up either – not when he knew he could help... when Oz was there. But he couldn't control that either.

He just had to appreciate that Oz meant a lot more to him than he'd been acknowledging.

"Toby?" He looked up startled.

"You okay?" She pointed to his arm as she got closer

"Wha-?" He asked looking down, bewildered. A gash in his uniform surprised him – his arm was one place that didn't ache after his less-than-graceful landing on his backside in the flat.

"Come with me." She pulled him softly towards the exam area. The sting of the knifewound started to emerge as he followed.

See! Without Oz he got hurt and

'_...he's always getting hurt.'_ Olivia's well-timed thought broke through his wandering defences.

'_...put him in a cage and throw away the key!' _She hmphed to herself.

"Sit there." She ordered. He almost didn't obey, not telling it apart from a thought and the verbal command that it was but he sat on the examination chair.

Was he _always_ getting hurt? He pondered it lightly... maybe a couple of times – not _always_ and definitely less when he had someone to rely on at his side. He'd decided. He was going to go round with some chicken soup and make Oz feel better because, knowing his luck, a couple more days without his partner and he'd have to be locked in that cage for his own safety.

A/N Trying to find a balance between action and description, no plot bunnies really involved so that ending was a bit rough. Let me know what you think?


End file.
